What to Expect at the Lucky Rice Grand Feast, May 3rd

The fourth annual Lucky Rice festival is around the corner. It starts April 29th and runs to May 5th, but culminates May 3rd, when twenty-two chefs gather in the ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental for the Grand Feast. There, chefs will serve food inspired by Asian cuisines as guests mingle and enjoy the view of Central Park from the Mandarin's 36th floor.

Chef Tae Goo Kang of Gaonnuri, located on the 39th floor of a K-Town highrise, is familiar with elevated cuisine. He'll be offering four dishes at the Grand Feast. One is Sam-Gye-Tang (pictured above), his interpretation of chicken soup with chestnuts and dates. "I want the guests to taste authentic Korean food," he said, "and given the setting of Grand Feast, I'll be deconstructing certain dishes so the guests will be able to approach the food in a comfortable way."

Sakamai is doing a food and cocktail pairing for Grand Feast. Shingo Gokan, Sakamai's resident bartender, has created a Bombay Sapphire East-based drink (Bombay Sapphire is sponsoring Lucky Rice) to pair with chef Takanori Akiyama's duck buns (pictured above). "The way the party is setup," Akiyama says, "it makes sense to serve finger food. We were going to do the bun with fish, but ginger, soy sauce—the Asian flavors were always there."

Grand Feast is not limited to chefs who run Asian restaurants. Alain Allegretti will be serving red shrimp tartare a la Bisto la Promenade, Cedric Congerichten of Perry St. is serving pan-seared shrimp with jade sauce and asparagus, and chef Mario Hernandez of Mexican restaurant Ofrenda is serving pork buns with kimchi—the pork for which he'll be braising in habanero and coconut milk.

Take a look at the full lineup of chefs, dishes, and cocktails is below.